Lacklustre day for FTSE

The London market closed barely ahead of its opening mark today following a mixed session in the City.

A strong start saw the FTSE 100 Index draw near to the 5900 mark before dropping back to close 3.3 points up at 5860.6.

Online casino PartyGaming was one of the day’s most sought after stocks after doubts were raised over proposed laws to ban internet gambling in the United States.

Shares in the PartyPoker giant lifted 4% or 4.5p to 110.25p as the bill looked set for failure in the Senate despite the overwhelming backing of the House of Representatives last night.

Online gaming firms rely heavily on the US for a large chunk of their revenues and smaller rival Sportingbet also benefited from the mood – up 9p to 340p - although Empire Online drifted 2.5p lower to 79p while 888 Holdings lost 3p to 205p.

PartyGaming was beaten to the top of the blue-chip risers board by miners Xstrata and Lonmin, which gained 111p to 2132p and 126p to 2905p respectively as the price of gold and copper strengthened.

GUS saw its shares move up 15p before dropping back to close a penny higher at 990.5p after its catalogue business Argos reported a 7% rise in like-for-like sales. GUS said shoppers snapped up flat screen televisions and set-top boxes in the run-up to the World Cup.

But retailer Marks & Spencer lost 2p to 583p despite yesterday’s strong trading update and an upgrade by Deutsche Bank from 655p to 675p. The bank also lifted its pre-tax profit forecast 3% to £950m (€1.4bn) – 4% above consensus.

Outside the top flight, Branston owner Premier Foods gained 20p to 329.5p after confirming a £460m (€664m) takeover of the UK and Ireland operations of Campbell Soup.

Restaurants and bars group Gondola, which owns Pizza Express, ASK and Zizzi chains, moved 7.5p to 326.5p after revealing an increase in sales across the group despite the impact of the World Cup and hot weather. Total restaurant sales for the financial year to July 2 grew 7% while like-for-like sales were up 4%.

The London Stock Exchange saw its shares rise 5p to 1135p after reporting a strong performance in the three months to June 30 with a 25% rise in revenues driven by record trading volumes on its electronic order book.

The 300-year-old exchange, which has been the subject of frenzied bid talk for more than a year, said turnover for the three months to June 30 was £84.3m (€122m).

But fashion house Burberry lost half a penny to 459.5p, despite reporting revenues rose 19% in the quarter to June 30. The progress, which was in line with market expectations, reflected strong demand across operations worldwide.

The day’s biggest blue chip risers were Xstrata up 111p to 2132p, Lonmin up 126p to 2905, PartyGaming ahead 4.5p to 110.25p and Kazakhmys up 50p to 1239p.

The day’s biggest blue chip fallers were Compass down 5.75p at 253.75p, Scottish & Southern Energy off 26p to 1154p, Aviva down 10.5p to 713p and Lloyds TSB down 6p to 535p.